SWEET BUSINESS

Chapter 1

I do not own the photo up top. The photographer is given credit for the image you just saw.

Mehul Joshi

"Argh. It's Monday again" I groaned and woke up from my sweet sleep. I looked at the clock and it was 6:30 am. "Ahhh. I am going to be late" I shouted. I ran inside the bathroom and took bath and came outside. I got dressed, took my tote bag and locked the door. I know I was late to the work. I should have woken up early. I ran as fast as I can. "Finally" I said as my steps halted. I reached my one and only bakery "Batter & Bakes" I went inside to find my employee Raj already working. "I am sorry Raj that I got late" I said while patting. "Calm down boss first drink water" he said and passed me the water. I sat down on a chair and started drinking it. "Did you have your breakfast?" he asked me. "Nah" I said. I was hungry to be honest. "Don't worry I bought Vada pav with me while coming here" he said. "Really?" I asked him and he nodded his head. He gave me the Vada pav and I happily started eating it. I love Vada pav, like a lot. "Thank You Raj" I thanked him for this tasty breakfast.

"Everything is ready just the strawberry shortcakes are remaining to prepare" Raj said. "Don't worry Raj I will do it. You relax now, till we open the bakery" I said. "Yes boss" he said and went outside from the kitchen. Raj is younger than me he is a college student. One day he just came inside my bakery and asked me to hire him as he was in need for a job. I tested his baking skills and damn he was good at baking. My bakery is not that big but it's beautiful. Four tables, a counter with contains cakes, pastries, cookies, donuts, etc. on the display. I will not brag but my bakery is quite famous in Mumbai.

"Done" I huffed as I was done making the strawberry shortcakes. I went outside towards the counter. "I am done with the shortcake" I said. "Okay boss" Raj replied. "Let's open the bakery. It's already 9 am and people might come for their morning coffee." I said. Raj nodded and placed the opened tag on the door.

As it was Monday people were rushing inside in the bakery for morning coffee and cookies. Yes I know that it's a bakery and not a café but we still serve coffee.

"Finally now I can take a breath" Rex said. I chuckled. "It's lunch time already. I will put the close tag and then we will have our lunch" I said. As I was about to put the close tag I heard someone crying. I opened the bakery door and saw a small boy crying. I crouched down to talk to him. "Hey little muffin. What happened?" I asked softly. "I...I want my daddy" he was crying. Maybe he is lost. He was holding the hem of my shirt. I picked him up and went inside the bakery. "Stop crying little muffin we will find your dad" I said as I made him sit on a chair. I grabbed tissues and started wiping his face. "Shhh. Baccha Don't cry" I said. I was comforting him.

He was not crying now. I already asked Raj to prepare a glass of hot chocolate. "So are you okay?" I asked. He nodded while sniffing. "What is your name little muffin?" I asked him. "Ru... Ruhan" he replied. "That's a sweet name" I said. He is so cute. He has this chubby cheeks, small hands and those hazel brown eyes. He spread his two little hands in front of me as if asking me to pick him up. So I did what he was trying to do. I picked him and placed him on my lap. He hugged me, his little arms around my neck. "What is the name of your father?" I asked him. "Daddy" he replied. Raj started laughing. Innocent kids. I took the glass of hot chocolate from Raj's hands and asked Ruhan to drink it. "Feed" was all he said. I blew cold air so that it should get little cold. I brought the glass near his mouth and he was drinking it. "Mom it's yummy" he said, and I froze in my place. "I...I am not your mom little muffin" I said. He just shook his head and started drinking the hot chocolate. "Raj, Can you please go outside and check whether someone is searching for him?" I asked him. Raj nodded and went outside. "Hey little muffin by any chance do you have your daddy's number or any other family members number?" I asked him. He nodded and took out a card. The card was fancy as fuck. I saw a number on it and called it. "Hello?" I said.

"Who is this? And from where do you get this number?" someone said rudely.

I huffed in annoyance. "This is Mehul. And for your kind information your son is lost and came to my bakery. He was crying a lot. How can you loose him? He is so small and cute. You should have looked after him while taking him out." I said.

"What's your address?" he asked.

"I will message you" I said and hanged up.

I shared the address to that stranger. I think he must be Ruhan's dad. "Ruhan your dad will be here to pick you up" I said. He smiled and hugged me again. This is kid is so cute. God he is going to kill me with his cuteness.

It has been 15 minutes snice I called Ruhan's dad. Ruhan was sleeping soundly in my arms. I heard the door of bakery opening. I looked up and my breath hitched. It's Naman. Naman Singhania. I knew him because we were in same school and I used to have a huge crush of him. Yes I am gay. He took long steps towards me. "So you are the one who called?" he asked. I was not able to talk I just nodded my head. He took Ruhan from my hand. That hurt. Ruhan started crying. "Ru don't cry. Baby please don't cry" he consoling Ruhan. But Ruhan didn't stop crying. I got worried and took Ruhan out of Naman's arms and started saying comforting things to him, while Naman was looking at me like he saw a snake or what. "Hey little muffin don't cry. See your dad is here." I said. He then looked towards his father. He was still hugging me, his little arms were around me. "Daddy" he said and went towards his dad. "I told you not to leave your dadi (grandma). How did you get lost?" Naman asked him in his deep voice. God his voice. He looks different now. He is tall, he must 6'3. His hazel brown eyes which I used to love back in school. He is more build now. I was staring at him. Stop staring Mehul he is married. I got out of my dreamland. "Say thank you to him" Naman said to Ruhan.

"Thank you" he said. "Your welcome little muffin" I replied. "We should leave now. Thank for taking care of him" Naman said. I shook my head "No worries. Wait a minute" I said. I went towards the counter and took out two strawberry shortcakes and packed them. I handed them to Naman. "These are for Ruhan" I said. He took out his card to pay. "No you don't have to pay for it." I said while smiling. He nodded. Blank expressions as usual. "Hey Naman do you remember me?" I took the courage and asked him. "No I don't" was all he said. Ouch. "No worries. Bye little muffin" I said. Ruhan said bye to me and he went with his dad. I was standing at the same place. "So you like the dad huh?" Raj asked while laughing. "Yes I mean No" I said a bit flustered.

"He is married for the hundredth time" I said. Raj was bugging me about Naman. "But we didn't saw the mom and he called you mom" Raj said. Raj was right. Why Ruhan did call me mom. "Chup ho ja (Shut up) Raj. It was just a school crush nothing much" I said. "Nothing much you say. While you were drooling over that man. I want to know what happened when you confessed to him" he said. "I was not drooling and about confession I am not going to tell you anything" I said. "Let's close the bakery. It's already 8 pm" I said

Later, at home, I struggled to stop thinking about Naman, realizing that he probably didn't remember me at all. His alluring hazel eyes and handsome appearance kept haunting my thoughts. I scolded myself to stop obsessing over him, knowing it was a futile endeavour.

Hello everyone!!

This is the first chapter of Sweet Business. I hope you liked it. Thank you for reading this chapter.

If there are any grammatical or spelling mistakes please correct me in comment section.

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